Waist and waistband construction



April 10, 1951 H. B. D. SMITH 2,548,402

WAST AND WAISTBAND CONSTRUCTION OF' TROUSERS AND THE LIKE Filed July l,1948 hmm ` HJHLM HH I) l I HJBERT DALLAS SMITH.

am *M attorneys.

Patented Apr. l0, 1951 WAIST AND WAISTBAND CONSTRUCTION OF TROUSERS ANDTHE LIKE.

H. Bert Dallas Smith, Dallas, Tex., assigner of one-half to Olin WelbornSmith, Jr., Dallas,

Tex..

Application July 1, 1948, Serial No. 36,514

. 4. Claims. l v

This invention relates to wear-ing apparel, and more particularly togarments, such as trousers, slacks, and like biiurcated garments.

Garments of the above type are now generally provided with pleats orpleated portions, and presently a great deal of diiiiculty has beenencountered whenever the size of the waist must be increased ordecreased.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the knowndiiculties encountered in increasing or decreasing the waist of pleatedbifurcated garments, and among which diiiiculties may be mentioned thedislocation of the pockets,

particularly the side pockets oiY the garment or,

as an alternative, the folding ofthe walls of the pockets incidental tocontracting the waist portion of the garment.

In accordance with the present invention I have produced a pleatedgarment of simple construction which may be readily adjusted to adesired waist size without altering the iit or hang of the garment andwithout dislocating or requiring any change in the location or supportof the pockets of the garment, and without requiring alterations eitherin the seat or iront of the garment at the waist.

The invention, together with its objects and advantages, will be bestunderstood when the following detailed description is read withreference to the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated apresently preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Figures l and 2 are, respectively, a front and a rear View inperspective of a trousers top embodying the features of the presentinvention, and with certain portions removed and othersl broken away, toillustrate certain details of construction hereinafter more fullyreferred to.

As shown in the drawings, the invention is applied to a pair oftrousers, although it will be understood that the garment may be of anyother type of bifurcated garment. As Shown, the trousers have legportions 5, fly E and a waist portion generally indicated as 1. Thetrousers at the waist thereof ,is also provided with belt loops 8.

In accordance with the present invention there is provide a waistbandwhich is divided at the side seams or pocket openings 9 into two rearsections I IJ-I Il and two 'front sections I I -I I. These mentionedsections oi the waistband may be made of any kind of material such asdrill or pocketing, and if desired the front sections I I-II of thewaistband may be made oi elastic or a combination of elastic and drillor pocketing material, as may be found desirable.

The rear waistband sections I are stitched to f the trousers.

the material of the trousers adjacent the upper edge of the waist as atI2 and extend inside the back of the trousers to the side seams orpocket openings 9. These waistband sections IS-i t) have formedintegrally therewith rear pockets I3 for Each pocket I3 has an innerwall I4 and an outer wall I5. The inner wall I4 is provided with a slitto form the mouth of the pocket, and at this mouth is stitched directlyto the material of the garment at the proximate pocket opening formed inthe material of the trouser, as indicated generally at i5. Other than bythe stitching Iii, the pockets I3 are wholly free of any directattachment to the material of the trousers. As a consequence, thepockets is are supported substantially solely from the waistbandsections l@ so that the contents oi the pockets will not cause saggingof the waist of the trousers at the seat.

The iront waistband sections l I-i I form continuations of the rearwaistband sections the front waistband sections I i-I I being stitchedat their rear or inner ends to the forward ends of the waistbandsections Iii at the side seams of the trousers, the waistband sectionsIi-ii being otherwise unattached to the waist portion of thetrousers.

The combined sections it--It and l i--I i of thewaistbandvaresubstantially longer than the normal length of thewaistband to permit adjustment thereof, and also, in accordance withthis invention, the waist portion of the garment is substantially longerthan usual to permit adjustment of the waist portion for contracting .oreX- panding the latter, as hereinafter described.

Also in accordance with this invention, the side pockets il for thetrousers are supported solely from the waistband sections I! beingstitched at the upper ends thereoi-` to said sections as generallyindicated a I8. Each pocket i-'l includes an inner wall I9 and an outerwall 20, and these walls at one edge are mutually separated from oneanother to form a'mouth for the pocket. At said mouth the material ofthe walls I9, 2E) are stitched to the material of the trousers aroundthe pocket openings Q. Other than just mentioned pockets Ii areunattached to the waist of the trousers, and as will be apparent as thedescription proceeds, the location of these pockets and the structurethereof will remain unaffected by any folding or pleating of the waistportion of the trousers incidental to pleating or folding the frontportions of the waist of the trousers in adjusting said waist to thedesired size.

The outer or free ends of the waistband sections il are provided withmeans whereby such ends may be fastened together in a detachable andlongitudinally adjustable manner across the front or abdomen of thewearer. In the present instance such fastening means are shown ascomprising a hook 22 suitably secured to the free end of one waistbandsection H and engageable with eyes 23 provided on the front or free endof the other waistband section H as illustrated. It will be of course beunderstood that any suitable type of adjustable fastening means may beemployed.

As Will be apparent from the foregoing, the front portions of the waistof the trousers, extending from the side seams to the ily 6, presentareas of free material adapted to be formed, independently of thewaistband, into pleats at the front of the garment for expanding orcontracting the garment at the waist to the desired waist size, withoutdisturbing the waistband or the pockets I3 and Il. The pleats or foldsare held in proper position and the desired adjustment retained, in anobvious manner, by the usual waist encircling belt which, as isconventional, is trained through the belt loops 8 and usually resortedto for supporting the trousers on the wearer.

From the foregoing it will be clear that bifurcated garments will beproduced in accordance with the present invention in such a way thatwaist size adjustment may be made with neat and sightly pleats, andwithout forming any unsightly folds or puckers or causing any distortionin the pocket structures or the sagging of the waist at the pockets.

While the invention has been described in detail in its presentlypreferred embodiment, it will, of course, be understood that such hasbeen done for purposes of illustration only and not by way oflimitation, and therefore only such limitations are to be imposedthereon as may reasonably come within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In trousers and like bifurcated garments having a waist portion, awaistband having rear sections secured to the waist and provided withpockets attached to the garment solely at the mouth of said pockets,said waistband also having front sections in continuation of said rearsections and being otherwise unattached to the waist and provided withpockets secured to the garment solely at the mouths of said pockets, themeeting ends of the waistband front sections being provided withcomplementary fasteners whereby the eiTective length of the waistbandmay be adjusted, with the corresponding portions of the garment waistdefining areas of free material adapted to be formed independently ofthe waistband into pleats at the front of the garment for adjustment towaist size without affecting the location of and support provided forthe pockets.

2. In trousers and like bifurcated garments having a waist portionadapted to be folded or pleated at the front in contracting andexpanding of the waist, a waistband having rear and front sections, therear sections of the waistband being secured to the waist and the frontsections of the waistband being otherwise unattached to the waistLrearpockets for the garment integral with the rear waistband sections andsecured to the garment solely at the mouths of said pockets, and sidepockets for the garment secured to the front waistband sections andattached to the garment solely at the mouths of said pockets.

3. A garment comprising in combination a waistband having rear and frontsections, said waistband being unattached to the garment except for therear sections of said waistband, rear pockets of the garment formedintegrally with the rear sections of said waistband and directlyattached to the garment only at the mouths of said pockets, and sidepockets for the garment stitched to the front sections of said waistbandand attached to the garment only at the mouths of said pockets.

4. A garment having a waist portion, a waistband having rear sectionssecured to the inside of the waist and provided with rear pockets forthe garment, said waistband also having front sections in continuationof said rear sections and being otherwise unattached to the waist, saidfront waistband sections being provided with side pockets for thegarment, the meeting` ends of the front waistband sections being adaptedto be fastened across the abdomen of the wearer with the correspondingportions of the waist of the garment being adapted to be formed intopleats of variable size in accordance with adjustment of the waist sizeof said garment, the rear and side pockets for the garment beingdirectly attached to the garment proper only at the mouths of thepockets and belt loops on the exterior of the waist to accommodate abelt for use in supporting the garment on the wearer and for holding thepleats against unfolding.

' H. BERT DALLAS SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 873,389 Stanford Dec. 10, 1907933,191 Mackay Sept. 7, 1909 2,075,395 Hirschfeld Mar. 30, 19372,075,680 Weinberg Mar. 30, 1937 2,123,060 Oviatt July 5, 1938 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 206,955 Switzerland Sept. 15, 1939

